Justice T. Black, the head of the Southern Defense Region, is facing a house subcommittee meeting on his handling of a kidnapping in a nearby town. But deep into the investigation of a restaurant fire that resulted in the deaths of a worker and a child, Black discovers a cryptic message spray-painted on the alley wall behind the restaurant he knows is meant for him. Shots ring out among a crowd that includes not only his team but the local mayor, placing the whole town on edge. Can Black keep them safe?

Similar cryptic messages begin to appear on billboards around town hinting about a...